Comcast Disconnects Your Cable. You're An RCN Customer.

You don’t need to actually be a Bank of America customer in order for them to foreclose on your house, and you don’t actually need to be a Comcast customer for them to disconnect your cable. That’s what Brett writes happened to him recently when a neighbor had their cable fixed.

I use RCN for my cable internet. There are two providers in Chicago: Comcast and RCN. I chose RCN because I could get 20 Mbps internet with no other services for less than it costs to get 10 Mbps at Comcast WITH all possible bundled services. Well, that’s not the only reason. I’ve used Comcast in the past, and they bill you random amounts, change your plan without permission, and win golden poo statues. I was glad to escape them with RCN.

However, my internet has gone out a few times in the last year. Each time, after jumping through customer service hoops, I was able to get an appointment. To get the appointment, you have to go through computerized menus, and then speak in depth with support people both in other countries, and finally local. Then, they offer you an appointment days to a week away with a 3-hour window. If you need your internet fixed right away, they also offer a technician the next day in a 12-hour window. They do not guarantee a phone call, so you have to be at home all day with no internet from 8am to 8pm.

The first time my internet went out, I was told that the box with the local connections was a mess with too many split lines, and this was why my service wasn’t working. They also told me that the lines were exposed, and should have been in a lockbox. There is a box above them, but it is already full of other connections. The technician fixed the problem and said he’d report the issue. The next time, a blizzard knocked out my connection. This time, it was fixed on its own. RCN told me that they share the connections with Comcast, so Comcast must have fixed it.

Now, this week, my connection went out for no apparent reason. It then went intermittently on and off. The tech showed up toward the end of my 12-hour window yesterday and took a look. All connections were working fine at the RCN junction. Then he took a look at the area it crosses with Comcast’s wires. He needed me to be inside and look at his meter while he unplugged connections to find which was mine. He discovered that mine was loose. He said that Comcast must have touched it, because RCN hadn’t been here. He said that somebody probably unplugged connections to figure out whose was whose at the junction, and didn’t bother to fully plug mine back in.

I had him show me which plug was mine, so that next time this happens, I’m gonna give myself a 30 minute window, climb a ladder, and fix it myself.

Deliberate sabotage isn’t unheard of, but it sounds like this incident was an accident and not actual malice.